The Kingsbury High School Archaeology Project

In February 2004 two members of staff from Kingsbury High School, London Borough of Brent, contacted UCLÃ¢Â€Â™s Institute of Archaeology (IoA) in order to propose a joint archaeology project. Michael Long and Stephen Ramsay, respectively assistant head teacher and history teacher at Kingsbury High School (KHS) had already identified their site in the back garden of a school-owned caretakerÃ¢Â€Â™s house. They asked, Ã¢Â€Âœwould it be at all possible for students from your department to lead this project and to teach our 6th formers some of the basics of archaeology?Ã¢Â€Â

The resulting project Ã¢Â€Â“ the Kingsbury High School Archaeology Project (KHSAP) Ã¢Â€Â“ has now run for three seasons in 2004, 2005 and 2006. The project is directed by Andy Agate from the IoA and is jointly funded by UCL and KHS. The aim is to put the pupils in the trench and allow them to be at the point of discovery. It has expanded from its 6th form remit to include pupils from all years. For three weeks each July pupils have had the opportunity to take part in the excavation of the back garden of a Tudor cottage (the building was demolished c. 1950). Supervised by students from the IoA the pupils have taken part in a full range of archaeological activities; excavating, planning and surveying. The finds from the site cover a wide range of artefacts including pottery (covering the period 1100 to yesterday) as well as clay pipes, pet burials and brick drains.

In addition to introducing the otherwise Ã¢Â€Â˜invisibleÃ¢Â€Â™ subject of archaeology into the school the project aims to be an applied example of how different curriculum subjects dovetail into one another. This aspect is especially important to the school where the project is able to promote cross-curricular links, amplifying its use as an educational resource. Within archaeology the project is relevant not only for introducing pupils to the discipline but also within the current topic of diversity Ã¢Â€Â“ that is the inclusion of Black and minority ethnic communities. However, at its core it is more than a worthy educational project Ã¢Â€Â“ itÃ¢Â€Â™s a bunch of kids learning about a past which is directly relevant to them in a way which is great fun!